Global Cement News

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos plans to spend around US$50m on upgrading its 0.2Mt/yr grinding plant at Pecém in Ceará. It will increase the unit’s production capacity by 0.8Mt/yr. The official announcement was made during a meeting between Camilo Santana, the governor of Ceará, and the board of Votorantim.

Bolivia: Imports of cement fell by 30% year-on-year to 0.19Mt in 2018 from 0.27Mt in 2017. Data from the Bolivian Foreign Trade Institute and the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia shows that cement imports were 0.51Mt in 2016, according to Hoy Bolivia. In 2018 Peru was the largest exporting country to Bolivia followed by Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. An increase in local production through the opening on new plants has contributed to the declining imports.

Uzbekistan: The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan has proposed abolishing cement import benefits. It wants to prioritise local production, according to Esmerk CIS News.

Namibia: The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a South African development finance institution, says it would like to increase its share in Ohorongo Cement. It has made the statement in response to the acquisition of a majority stake in the cement producer by Singapore’s International Cement Group in March 2019, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper.

The IDC owns a 14% stake in Ohorongo Cement. It says it is committed to Ohorongo Cement and that it wants to support Namibia's indigenisation programme through local ownership. It is talking to other shareholders including the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), which owns an 11% stake in Ohorongo. The DBN has also expressed concerns on the takeover by International Cement Group.

Antarctica/UK: Hanson has transported 125t of bagged cement from its Ketton plant in the UK to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. Construction company BAM Nuttall is upgrading a wharf at the site to improve ship and boating operations and allow it to accommodate the RRS Sir David Attenborough as well as to reduce manual handling cargo loading/unloading time.

The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement worked with BAM Nuttall and civil engineering company Keyline to set the technical specification of the cement. Each of the 25kg bags were vacuum sealed and double shrink wrapped onto heat-treated pallets to reduce the risk of contaminating Antarctica’s environment with foreign organisms.